Over the past few years, Orlando has been been going through a restaurant renaissance of sorts, with no signs of slowing down. As a food blogger, it is both exciting and exhausting at the same time to try and keep up with all of the change. While many of the new restaurants are helmed by celebrity chefs or feature high end cuisine and decor that cater to an upscale clientele, it is very refreshing to see the opening of a more mom and pop type of restaurant.

From local farms to local forks, Central Florida has another new restaurant by the name of Cork & Fork American Grill that is open in the Belle Isle community of southeastern Orange County.
Just because the term mom and pop is used, don't let that fool you into thinking that Cork & Fork is a basic plane jane affair. The restaurant is billing itself as a “Freshtaurant” that features delicious American fare made with farm fresh ingredients and seasonal dishes in a one of a kind casual, homey and relaxed atmosphere with great cocktails, craft beers and local wines.
Cork & Fork’s menu was crafted by Chef Simon Bond and features a wide variety of options from garden fresh salads, soups and appetizing entree selections. Drunken scallops, pork tenderloin, chicken Parmesan and fresh salmon are just a few of the entrees featured. Delectable desserts like the brownie meltdown, vanilla bread pudding and a classic Florida favorite, key lime pie with A cookie crust round out your dessert options.

Putting aside the fork, the menu also features a plethora of handheld savory sandwiches, burgers and wraps made with local ingredients and a smaller “Bites menu” that includes house made ale battered onion rings, spinach and artichoke dip and they even make ketchup in house. By staying true to farm fresh, Cork & Fork allows diners to enjoy a different taste, healthier options and varying daily specials all at family friendly pricing.

Of course a round of cocktails was in order to get the evening started. The “French 65” pictured on the left features triple sec and angostura bitters over ice topped with orange juice and Champagne. The drink on the right is a Strawberry Mojito made with Shellback silver rum.

The house made Spinach and Artichoke Dip is served warm with pita chips and has water chestnuts added to it for a unique texture and crunch. This stuff was pretty addictive.

Crispy Calamari is fried crispy with a bit of spice and tossed with cherry peppers and jalapenos. the calamari was good on its own, but the citrus chili dipping sauce was a great addition.

The Ale Battered Onion Rings are house made, hand cut and served with a very delicious creamy lager fondue. Fried Zucchini sticks were pretty exceptional as well with a garlic yogurt dill sauce.

This is hands down one of the best Moscow Mules I have ever had. Even if you are not a big fan of this drink...give it a try at Cork & Fork. New Amsterdam vodka, fresh squeezed lime, simple syrup shaken together and poured over ice and topped with ginger beer will have you coming back for more.

There are plenty of places to get a good burger in Orlando, but sadly most places rely on the toppings for flavor and don't season the ground beef properly. The Cork & Fork Burger with additional bacon and cheese was seasoned to perfection and served on a buttered bun and needed no condiments at all. The beef used here is sourced from the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

I love Fish and Chips. That may sound simple and basic, but you'd be surprised how hard it is to find it done properly. The cod is brought in fresh everyday and never frozen at Cork & Fork, and this makes for some of the most flakiest and delicious fish and chips that I have had in quite some time. I usually like to soak my fish in malt vinegar, but that would have been an injustice to this delicious fish.

Steak & Fries consists of local, best available steak prepared your way with French fries, house made ketchup and veggie of the day. This was cooked very well and the fries were crispy as well. Now if I had a brown gravy sauce to go with those fries….

Cauliflower Steak is a great vegetarian option with pan seared cauliflower in garlic, thyme, browned butter and sautéed spinach and shallots served with veggie of the day.

This Vanilla Bread Pudding with Hennessy cream sauce will have your taste buds spinning. Even if you are not the biggest bread pudding fan, give the one at Cork & Fork a try, you won't regret it. I had some left over and heated it up the next day for an awesome breakfast snack.

With over 30 years of hospitality experience, Cork & Fork Owners Orhan and Sheila Soysal are overjoyed to bring their “Freshtaurant” to the Central Florida community. “We have always loved the idea of the farm-fresh experience, and Cork & Fork allows us to do just that,” says the Soysals. “We are excited to share our passion with Central Florida, and we hope to foster community growth, help improve the local economy and give our guests a truly comfortable and memorable dining experience they return to time and time again.”

Cork & Fork is open Sunday to Thursday from 11am to 11pm and Friday and Saturday from 11am to 12am with nightly happy hour specials.